Hot work!

Last Saturday was spent helping out on Nicky's BGR and it was a scorcher!

It was 13 Celsius at 2am Saturday morning (it's now 2pm Wednesday and probably cooler!) at Dunmail Raise. Having kipped out, uncomfortably, in the car getting hotter and hotter with the passing traffic occasionally shaking us, we finally got out at around 0130 to see who else had arrived ready for the next leg. It was rather busy as it turned out that a group of 16 contenders from Pudsey and Bramley were heading round.

Nicky turned up about forty minutes ahead of schedule, so it was about 2:15 when we began the slog up Steel Fell. Despite a good pace we lost a minute or so on her schedule to this and also to Calf Crag.  Dawn was on the horizon as we approached Sergeant Crag, a navigation error of turning left too early lost another couple of minutes. High Raise was reached on schedule as were Thunacar Knott and Harrison Stickle, despite not getting a good line on the latter.

It was fully daylight by the time we were crossing Martcrag Moor and we gained time getting to Rossett Pike. Things then suddenly went a bit silly - there's a big climb on to Bowfell, then it gets rocky heading to Esk Pike - Nicky upped her pace and took ten minutes out of her scheduled hour. All this in increasing heat plus the fact that she was suffering with bad guts and couldn’t take food or water for most of the leg.

After a bizarre snowball fight just below the summit of Scafell Pike, it was decision time - do we go via Broad Stand or not? Well it was dry so no real choice. Roy had brought a couple of slings for moral assistance and we were soon over the tricky part (Inov8s may be good for running but unlike Walshes they are useless on rock) and heading up the slabs. It was somewhere near the top of these that the heat and distance got to me and once I was sure that Nicky was on her way down to Wasdale OK, I backed off and just walked down the last steep bit.

In the end she got round in 22:42 - a really good time given the heat. Some photos here .

The following day I went climbing with Steve and Gaz at Attermire but I'd have been as well going sunbathing as I was still suffering from the efforts and heat of Saturday. Still, got some routes done.

The coming weekend may well see more BGR support, certainly I need to recce the Skiddaw leg as I'm supporting on that leg in about five weeks' time and I haven't been on that ground since my own round five years ago.